The End
by northern.grunge
Summary: Oneshot A/H with Juliet!Basically the ending to a story, their is no middle or begining... but it's explained that you aren't left hanging. After all, the end is the best part! Warning: Goes from a serious topic to orange juice really fast at the very end


_**A/N: #1 I don't own Artemis Fowl! Now that that's over with let's get on with it. Oh and if this looks a little odd it's because I basically stared at the end of a story I had in mind because I have no middle of beginning. So here's my cut-off end… **_

**Fowl Manor, January. **

_Opal Koboi has infiltrated the Fowl Manor and is after Artemis. She has the perfect plan to finally catch him without magic healing to protect him. After some failed attempts she succeeds in wounding Butler. Holly uses the last of her magic to heal him, just as Opal planned. But her attack backfired, she was presumably killed and left in the rubble of the Fowl Manor's lobby. While Holly and Artemis have their backs turned to the tiny foe, she devises a quick lethal plan. _

Opal screeched. She was blistering mad now. Nothing would stop her from getting her way. She pin pointed Artemis, he was bent over his mountain body-guard, along with the elf that had conveniently wasted her magic on saving Butler. The deranged pixie lunged at the fallen suit of armor and grasped the sword. She raced at Artemis, sword outstretched. She was steps away when Holly heard her tiny feet patting on the tile.

"Artemis!" Holly yelped and grabbed at her Neutrino. Artemis spun around on the already blood coated tile. Opal was hit by the blast exactly two second after her sword plunged into a helpless Artemis. Opal was sent flying until she hit the floor, affectively snapping her neck. She had finally killed Fowl. It didn't matter that the cost was her life.

Artemis's body was overcome with pain. The decorative sword felt like a long tendril of ice in his body. His thoughts had left him completely, he was shocked.

Holly threw aside her Neutrino as Artemis fell onto Butler who was beginning to come around. Her hand found the place around her neck where she kept a back-up acorn, just in case. She opened to vile with her teeth and took out the tiny acorn.

Artemis at least thought to pull out the sword. He leaned on his bodyguard who was still incapacitated, and tried to catch enough breath to speak.

"Holly, don't worry, I'll be alright." His voice was tight as he said this, Holly somehow thought differently. She bit her bottom lip hard until it bled, but the tears still came.

"Artemis, don't waste your energy." With a burst of adrenaline she lifted Artemis in both her arms and carried him out the door. Her muscles ached with cold and exhaustion as she set the teenager down gently as she could on the snow. She clawed at the white blanket of snow until she saw the ground and dug a tiny hole in the frozen earth. She planted the acorn, and said the words, but there was no instant gratification.

It seemed to take much too long, every second after she completed the ritual was strained, and she felt a lump in her throat as she looked over Artemis. His face had grown pale, his teeth were clenched and his eyes were shut tight. She touched a hand to his face, and then pushed a lock of coal colored, snow dappled hair from his eyes. His skin was as cold as death- no she wouldn't think that. Holly prayed that he would stay warm enough, her suit flicked on and off, there was obviously a loose circuit, but it kept her warm.

Bright blue light hesitantly danced into her finger and up through her arm, as if it was afraid of leaving the frozen ground. Once she knew she had enough to heal Artemis she placed a hand over the wound and forcefully said "Heal!" The fresh magic circled his body until every cut was healed, the sword wound no longer bled. Artemis lay in the snow, alive but weak. He slowly opened his hazel and blue eyes. The magic felt warm and comforting, even if it was below 20 degrees Fahrenheit. As he warmed up he felt more than just the heat, something was on top of him. He blinked a few times to clear his sight and looked down to see that Holly was clinging to him to try and warm him up.

"Holly," He whispered through chattering teeth. He was shivering with the cold, which he took as a good sign that he wasn't going to die.

"Holly?" He said again, slightly louder. Artemis knew he was on his own. He slowly stood up, lifted the elf in his arms, and jogged up their driveway. He lost his shoes in the battle, but his feet were too numb to feel the jagged rocks. He realized as he walked inside, that he would be long dead if not for Holly Short. His guardian angel, with tapered ears and mechanical wings, but she fell from Haven rather than Heaven.

******

Holly woke up in a cool, king-sized bed. After three seconds she snapped awake and shouted Artemis's name. She looked around, alarmed. The last picture in her mind was that of his still body, covered in tiny flecks of forgiving snow. She lay over the boy to keep him warm, but a three foot elf did little for a full grown teenager.

She heard soft steps outside the door. It creaked open and Holly felt a weight lift from her when she saw Artemis standing on the door step. He came to the side of the bed,

"Are you alright?" They both asked each other in unison with matching concern in their eyes. Holly looked down as rosy color rushed to her cheeks, filling them with heat.

"I'm fine" She said, and then looked up to meet Artemis's eyes. She wished she hadn't. They were filled with something pure and beautiful. The eye that was formerly hers sparkled with joy and playfulness, the blue that was his was intense and kind. It gave her an unnamed comfort to know that she would always be with him, and he would always be with her. Even when he was gone she would forever be able to look into those eyes.

Artemis blinked away the emotion and looked down. He saw in her eyes what he must've looked like and it scared him. He was flabbergasted; the great Artemis Fowl was scared of… of what? The answer gnawed at him because it was so plain. He was scared he would hurt her. The beautiful, natural creature before him, she looked so delicate now. He could barely bring to mind the images of her glare, her anger, the way she shot the Neutrino, the snide remarks. Right now, Holly Short was the image of femininity. He put on a false front and spoke.

"I'm glad. I'm feeling well myself. A little sore, but…" Artemis looked strait into her eyes this time, and knew she wasn't paying attention to what he was saying. He couldn't remember what they were talking about exactly so he changed the subject.

"Holly, would you mind if-" Holly cut him off

"I think I've done enough for you already Mud Man" She glared at him jokingly but Artemis couldn't help but feel slightly intimidated. She took the hint from his eyes and softened her features, then decided to take it a step further and give him a cue, being careful to not make a fool out of herself if she was wrong.

"Nice bed, it's huge" She patted the sheets around her and scooted over slightly making room. Artemis wasn't giving in. He raised both eyebrows simultaneously and cocked his head. Holly swallowed hard and continued.

"Go on, sit down. You look awfully tired." It was true, although gorgeous. His eyes had a dull shimmer to them, he looked like he had just finished a long, hard battle and won... he had. He closed his eyes and gave her a quick little laugh.

"I haven't lied down since-" Again Holly stopped him short.

"Since the snow! You'll kill yourself!" She said this teasingly but a part of her was worried that he was over working himself. Artemis obligingly sat on the bed and stretched out his legs. They didn't talk for awhile. The silence felt so thick they could've drowned in it. Things to say came easily, but the voice to say them in would not budge. Finally Holly tried out her vocal chords, chocking through his name and rushing out the rest.

"Artemis… do you believe in fate?" Artemis took a deep breath and stared at the wall in front of them. Wasn't that the question of the century? Because of him they had both been inches from death at such young ages, because of his little money-making scam they had saved each other's lives, and the lives of the people they… Artemis loved. He didn't think it was fair to Holly. She had gained almost nothing from their relationship. She shouldn't love the boy who did all this to her… but there they sat. Almost an entire foot away from each other, yet neither had ever felt so close.

"You know, Holly, I never did." He swallowed hard and finished his thought. "Now though, yes, I should say I do believe in fate. But, it has been too kind to me. If not for fate I would still be a snobby child with a few tons of gold, a senile mother, and a dead father. Without meeting… kidnapping you, I would be dead." Holly knew he meant every word, she also knew that it was the truth. She tried to reflect on all the good things Artemis had done for her, where she would be without him. She would still be on the LEPrecon force, but she would have Root as her Commander, she wouldn't have had her finger sliced off, she wouldn't have had to do half the things she had done since she met him. Then again, she loved Artemis. As a best friend, as an amazing person, and maybe… as someone she could spend the rest of his life with. Holly closed her eyes to collect her thoughts, and took the largest leap she had ever taken.

"Arty, I think, all these years I had given up on love. Everyone I've ever loved is dead, and you," she had to hold back the tears that threatened to choke her voice and betray her stony appearance "you won't be around as long as I will. I couldn't live with myself if someone else I loved died." Artemis knew this would be a problem. He moved in closer to the elf and laid a gentle hand on her arm, he hated himself right now. The right thing to do was to make her hate him, so she could move on and fall in love with someone who would never hurt her how he would have to. But he couldn't do it.

"At least you won't have any regrets when I'm dead. At least, you will have had love while it was there." This made Holly loosen all her defenses. She had never felt more vulnerable. Even the toughest officer's heart was broken at some point. She tried to say something but words wouldn't come. So instead, she embraced him and shut her eyes tightly, hanging on to him with all her strength, which was a lot for someone so small.

"Holly, Holly!" Artemis's voice was somewhere between a whisper and a forceful plea. She let go suddenly and his struggling lungs could finally fill with air. Holly was so embraced she could've smacked herself. Artemis took a second to recover but when his breathing returned to normal he reached swiftly for the space under her pointed her. His hand fit around her jaw bone snuggly and felt warm against her skin. He laughed gently as he said

"Maybe we could try that again." He kissed her, their lips hung for a moment as Holly's arms wrapped around Artemis once again. This time Artemis hugged back, the last thing she remembered was the feel of his warm body and the flashing time of clock 1:05 a.m.

****

At 8:34 a.m. Juliet walked the hallway towards the guest bedroom. Unbeknown to her, a brigade of LEP police had just finished cleaning the last of the battle ground mess before she came strolling in through the door. She thought she had left one of her earrings in the guest room from the last time she stayed over so she came prepared with peace offerings of fresh orange juice and bagels. She was careful to stay quite so as not to wake anyone still asleep. She dropped the breakfast off on the marble kitchen counters of the mansion and made her way upstairs.

When she noticed the door was cracked open it was 8:35. She warily peered into the supposedly empty bedroom and almost laughed out loud when she found Artemis wrapped up in the embrace of a girl. She decided it best not to wake them, it was his business anyways… though she did look rather small compared to him. Almost like child… but she would not judge, so she grabbed a raison bagel, a glass of liquid sunshine, and the morning paper. She'd ask Artemis how his night was maybe… or go upstairs and inquire as to why the bed was unmade…

Leaning back she took a sip of the orange juice and quickly spit it out back into the cup. Looking somewhere into the ceiling she said,

"Hey! What's the deal? You know very well oranges suck during winter! What a crappy author!"

"Oh, if you're going to complain I'll just make it prune juice!" Juliet cowers and grimaces at the very thought of the writer putting that taste in her mouth.

"Fine, fine… I'll drink the friggin' oranges."

"That's more like it. Remember I control the story. Not you!"

"You're going to make me look like some idiot talking to the ceiling aren't you?"

"Only for this section! Now tell the nice readers to review and hand them a bagel."

Juliet reluctantly said with a smile,

"Review and you can get a bagel" then whispered "but not one of these bagels, they're mine."

The lovely authoress rolled her eyes at the stubbornness of some of these characters.

"Give the people your bagels or you're evicted!" Said the authoress

"Agh! Take the bagels then, ruin the rest of my breakfast! Not like I can anything about it."


End file.
